Birth Story. This got way longer than I anticipated. But I loved reading these before I gave birth 😁 Also, Baby Tax below!

2/11/19:

2:30pm- 39 0. Had our last prenatal appt, i was 3cm and 90%. I had a membrane sweep done and we scheduled induction for our due date in a week, just in case I was still pregnant by then. The sweep hurt, it was basically like a really long cervical check. They told me to expect some cramping and spotting from the sweep for about 24 hours. I was already having some mild cramps on the car ride home, they continued on and off until about 6pm when I took a nap

8pm- woke up and started to have some more noticeable cramping, still just above mild. And still on and off, nothing regular. Also had some light spotting.

Over the next few hours, the occasional cramping became like one constant cramp with a pretty painful one in the middle here and there. Still nothing regular, 6 minutes, 10 minutes, 14 minutes, 8 minutes. And only lasted 30-45 seconds each.

2/12/19. 39 1

I eventually gave up around 5am and my SO and I decided to try to get some sleep... Which didn't happen. The cramps were too painful to sleep through. I was still in denial that I was in labor and thought it was just cramping from the membrane sweep.

7am- had a couple REALLY intense cramps that had me doubled over in pain. Still irregular. But I was in so much pain I woke up my SO and told him I didn't care about timing, we needed to go. Plus the hospital was almost an hour drive away. He got up and we packed the last minute items for our hospital bag and we headed out. I had a few really bad contractions in the car. They got a little more regular on the way there, averaging 5 minutes apart

8:45am- Got to the hospital. When the elevator doors opened, my OB that did my sweep was standing there lol. She said "oh yay, hopefully this is a good sign!" And she ended up staying to check me and see if I was going to be admitted. They hooked me up to the monitor and checked me. I was 5cm and 90%. They said I was having strong contractions all over the place, and I was admitted!

We moved into the birthing room pretty quickly. They got me all set up with my IV and blood draw. I said I wanted an epidural when it was time (which was always part of my birth plan.) They said all I had to do was get a full bag of fluids first. It only took about 30 minutes and the anesthesiologist was in my room. The whole process was only slightly uncomfortable (the numbing shot was the only thing that burned for a second.) A few minutes after the epidural was placed, my blood pressure crashed. Which made me feel pretty weird and I got really hot and my ears started ringing like I was about to pass out. The nurse and anesthesiologist were ready and pushed something in my IV and I was back to normal in 5 minutes. Once the epidural kicked in, the nurse placed my catheter, I didn't feel it one bit and it was really nice not feeling like I had to pee every 5 seconds.

After this, we just tried to relax. My SO and I tried to get some sleep since we hadn't had any. The nurse came in and flipped me periodically to keep the epidural even. It didn't work as well on my right side, so I had to keep calling her in to flip me early. They told me I had a great epidural, because I could still move my legs a bit, but didn't feel much.

12:30pm- My OB came in and broke my water. It only took a second, and it felt like a huge gush of warm water. Apparently my contractions had slowed down a bit because at 1pm they decided to start some pitocin.

2pm- 7cm. Still 90%. My body had a weird reaction to pitocin so they had to stop it. My heart rate spiked with each contraction, and contractions were too close together going back to back.

3:30pm- 8cm. They tried to start pitocin again at the lowest possible setting, but they had to stop it after 30 minutes because it still gave me the same reaction. They also gave me another bag of fluid each time they stopped pitocin to try and flush it out of my system faster. The nurse told me to get her immediately if I felt pressure in my bum, or felt a need to push. After this, it was just a waiting game. Around 6pm, they told me that my OB would be back soon and she would come in and check me again.

7pm- My OB came in to check me. I was 9 and a half. Almost fully effaced. She said she thought we could still push passed it. She had me hold the back of my legs and bare down and try to start pushing with contractions. We watched the monitor and waited. Three 10 second pushes per contraction. The nurse and OB counted for me while I pushed, which really helped. They gave me an oxygen mask in between to help me catch my breath. I only pushed for 25 minutes, and on the last contraction, I could hear my SO and doctor get excited as they told me to push one last time as hard as I could. My baby girl was born at 7:31pm. They put her on my stomach and wiped her off with a towel while they got ready for my SO to cut the cord. We both cried a bit, it was such an indescribably powerful moment that we will never forget. I only had 1 first degree tear which required stitches. The placenta came out on its own only a few minutes after my baby girl.

The worst part of the whole thing was getting my stomach massaged afterwards because the epidural was already wearing off and she pushed right on my belly button, which was already sore from the last few months of being pregnant. I didn't feel the ring of fire or anything really, it didn't even really feel different when she made her way out. And I absolutely pooped multiple times on that table. I didn't watch, but I could feel it and smell it... And I didn't care one bit lmao. I only wanted my baby girl out.

We only stayed in the birthing room for about an hour after birth. My SO and I did skin to skin with our baby. And we got her to latch for the first time. She was a pro. She got weighed, measured and apgar tested. They made me get up and out of bed to use the bathroom before we could go to the recovery room. The first night was fairly easy, besides having to wake up to feed every 3 hours. The second night was tough, my baby got super fussy and wanted to feed every 30 minutes, which tore my nipples up so bad. She also gagged a lot. Apparently that happens when babies don't spend very long being pushed out of the birth canal. The nurses were amazing, they helped us breastfeed and answered all of our silly questions every time we called.

My baby ended up being coombs positive, which put her at higher risk for jaundice. We ended up having to stay an extra day in the hospital because she needed uv light treatment. It was a lot harder that we thought to have to see her under the lights, especially when she was fussing and we couldn't pick her up. We could only take her out to breastfeed, which really made us appreciate the moments we had to hold her. They also had us start supplementing with formula to get her to pass the bilirubin faster. We're still supplementing, and I don't mind it. To us, fed is best. We're just happy to get her what she needs. She's one happy, sleepy baby now and we love her to pieces.

And of course, see below for baby tax!

Ms. A.Q.

❤️❤️❤️

Born 2/12/2019 at 7:31pm. 7lbs 9oz